Mapping the Homeless of LA

In January 2015 the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority carried out a survey of the homeless in Los Angeles County. The survey estimated that there were 44,359 homeless living in the county. Using the data from the count the Los Angeles Times created a dot map to visualize the distribution of homeless people throughout the county.

Each dot on the Where are L.A. County’s Homeless? map represents one homeless person or a makeshift shelter or vehicle occupied by the homeless. The dots do not represent the exact location of homeless people recorded in the survey but were randomized throughout each census tract. If you select a census tract on the map you can view a breakdown of the number of homeless counted in the neighborhood at the end of 2014.


In the latest point-in-time count, carried out in 2017, there were more than 57,000 men, women, and children estimated homeless in Los Angeles County. Esri has used the data from the count and other publicly available data to explore how GIS can be used to combat homelessness in the county.

In Combating Homelessness in Los Angeles County Esri has created a number of mapped visualizations which show the distribution and characteristics of the homeless population in L.A. County. The story map continues by showing how GIS can be used to identify priority areas to target resources for the homeless.

The Combating Homelessness map makes a lot of use of the L.A. point-in-time count. These counts are required by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development and are conducted every one or two years across the US. You can use Esri's story map as a template for creating a map visualizing the homeless problem in your own area and to identify priority locations to target resources.